How to make a global dance hit: Balancing the exotic with the familiar in ‘Danza Kuduro' by Lucenzo featuring Don Omar

Abstract

On 15 August 2010, the single ‘Danza Kuduro' was released in Latin America and Europe. The song features collaboration between French pop singer and producer Lucenzo (Philippe Louis De Oliveira) and Puerto Rican reggaeton artist Don Omar (William Landrón). This particular version of ‘Danza Kuduro' was a remake of an earlier version by Lucenzo – without the collaboration of Don Omar – titled ‘Vem Dançar Kuduro' that was released in June of 2010 to little fanfare.1 After a slow start, the new version of the song gradually climbed to the top of popular music charts in Europe and Latin America. By spring 2011, ‘Danza Kuduro' had reached number one positions in pop charts across Europe, Latin America, Central America, the Caribbean and the Latin pop charts of the United States. The song's popularity was further bolstered by its inclusion in the soundtrack of the box office smash film Furious Five (alternately known as Fast and Furious 5: Rio Heist) released by Universal Studios in April 2011.2 By summer 2011 ‘Danza Kuduro' had ascended to the status of a global phenomenon, following the path forged by past global dance hits the likes of the ‘Macarena' in 1995-96 and the ‘Lambada' in 1989-90. The wide-reaching success of ‘Danza Kuduro' penetrated into the everyday lives of people across the globe and a quick survey of www.youtube.com queries displays hundreds of fan-generated videos of ‘Danza Kuduro', many with viewership in excess of 2 million hits.3. © Ralf von Appen, André Doehring, Dietrich Helms and Allan F. Moore 2015 All rights reserved.